Comfort food

COMFORT FOOD

Mom’s homemade pizza
and cinnamon rolls that she
made with extra dough

and her homemade pies
and cinnamon rolls made with
extra pie crust dough

chicken paprikash
rich with a sour cream gravy,
served with dinner rolls

stuffed green peppers, or
Italian sausage sandwich
with onion, pepper,

and mayo on a
bun, served with potato chips,
onion dip, and pop

oil-popped popcorn, made
on the stove in Dad’s old pot,
buttered and salted

Aunt Shirley’s cheese ball
Aunt Peg’s roast beef with gravy
and all the fixin’s

and her to-die-for
apple dumplings covered with
hard vanilla sauce

Grandpa Dunn’s bacon
Grandma’s pancakes swimming in
real maple syrup

Toast, and tea served in
my teapot from Grandma Dunn
when I was unwell

All that came out of
Aunt Dora’s basement kitchen
that begged us, “sit down.”

Aunt Judy’s version
of Aunt Dora’s sauce, which she
claimed was never right 😉

homegrown tomato-
spaghetti sauce with meatballs
that simmered all day

and was poured over
capellini (angel hair)
served with garlic bread

Grandma Marchionte’s mush
piled on a breadboard from which
we kids all chowed down

believe it or not
fried bologna sandwiches
blackened, with mustard …

But it’s what’s in the
air that most brings me comfort:
scents of memories.

Easter Ham Pie. Mom

It’s Mom’s recipes –
stained, and written in her hand –
that nourish my heart.

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My comfort foods are piping hot.
They never fail to hit the spot.
I’ll savor solace that they’ve brought,
And when I’m done, my coffee pot.

For where is comfort in cold foods,
That cannot warm cold attitudes
And never will they change foul moods.
There’s nothing cozy in cold foods.

But I could swear that buttered rolls
Can hinder malice in cold souls,
As can hot pies and big warm bowls
Of soups and stews and casseroles.

FOR POETIC BLOOMINGS AUTUMNAL POEM-A-DAY CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE, 2018, DAY 8: COMFORT FOOD

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